


The Doctor is In

by crystanagahori



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Comfort, Doctor/Donna - Freeform, Established Relationship, Friendship, Gen, frienship, gen - Freeform, post Journeys End
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-03-15 18:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3457319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystanagahori/pseuds/crystanagahori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Did Donna kick you out of the TARDIS?" She asked him gently, already going to a tea trolley beside the door to make the Doctor a cuppa.</p><p>The Doctor drops by Martha Jones' office. Very very gen, with an established relationship between the Doctor and Donna.</p><p>Now with a third chapter!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Human Nature/Family of blood last night. God, Martha was amazing. I just want to give her a huge hug. I highly doubt the other companions could be that patient with the Doctor. Plus, she just got what it meant, being his companion. 
> 
> So in tribute to that, here's this short little fic. I might add another chapter, but for now, here's the story!

 "Doctor!" Martha exclaimed, bounding up to the tall alien and throwing her arms around him in a hug. The Doctor had to admit, Martha gave the best hugs, always tight, with that little extra squeeze just before she let go. She looked at him from head to toe, and the Doctor very much felt like she was evaluating him, trying to see if he was injured or dying. No such luck, though. "What brings you here?"

"Well," the Doctor, said, looking around quickly, trying to answer that very question. Where _was_ he? He'd been in and booted out of the TARDIS so fast he barely had time to register what was going on. "It's a lovely day, had nothing to do, so I thought, why not visit my favorite Doctor, eh, Martha Jones?"

Martha crossed her ams over her chest and looked right up an him with a raised eyebrow. She met his easy, toothy grin with a light giggle. "Nice try, Doctor. I've known you for a few years now, you've never made a social visit before."

"Ooh, are those scans of Silurian DNA?" He sidetracked, putting on his brainy specs and studying the scans up on a lit screen in what he presumed was Martha's office. Not that he knew where Martha was working. "Brilliant race, Silurians. Did you know they were one of the first inhabitants of Earth? Well, I say one of the first, because obviously the Racnoss were here when the Earth itself was formed, but--"

Then he noticed that Martha was looking at him like she didn't believe a word he was saying. He forgot he didn't have that power over her anymore. Kind of sad, really.

"Did Donna kick you out of the TARDIS?" She asked him gently, already going to a tea trolley beside he door to make the Doctor a cuppa.

"No! Really Martha Jones, the idea that Donna could kick me out of my own...I was the one who...yes, yes she did," he concluded, running a hand over his chin in frustration. He had no idea when the TARDIS had swayed over to Donna's side, but one word from her, and he'd been properly dumped on Martha's lap. So he might have forgotten to tell her that the might have accidentally married Queen Elizabeth once. Was that a big deal? 

Apparently, to Donna, yes. Especially when they were having quite a nice date in Elizabethan England before they were sentenced to death for his adultery. But he had gotten them out of that! 

Martha politely handed him the teacup, sitting in the guest chair on front of her desk, looking over at the Doctor while he sat on Martha's chair, his plimsolls crossed on top of the desk as he frowned.

"Having a bit of a domestic, are we?" She joked, sipping her tea and looking surreptitiously over at him. 

The Doctor frowned slightly. When Martha traveled with him, he always seemed to forget to look at her. Of course she meant the world to him, the way she believed in him, the way she put up with him, with _all_ of him...and the Doctor just didn't see her. He knew she was brilliant, knew she was brave and clever, but still. He'd managed to miss Martha Jones in ways he vowed never to again. In that little quip he saw her eyes flinch, something sting inside her. Unintentional as it was, it was there. 

"Yes, well..." He said, sipping his tea like he was trying to mimic Martha. Mmm, eight sugars, just the way he liked it. Did she always know how he liked his tea? 

"It's alright Doctor, you can tell me," she said, laughing lightly, crossing one leg over the other as she watched him. She genuinely wanted to know, to help him. That was what she did, as a companion. Was that all she ever was? "I could use the break." 

"Nah, it'll fix itself," the Doctor said, waving his hand to dismiss the conversation entirely. He took his feet off the desk and walked over to the window. Oooh, they were in New York! How nice. "No Daleks this time, eh?" He asked, nudging his head out the window, where Martha got quite he view of the Empire State Building.

"No, none whatsoever," she said, sighing and swivelling the chair around to look at him. His gaze quickly swept around the room. There were several photographs, of Martha and her family (looking happily into the camera like he hadn't taken away a whole year of their life), a sweet photo of Mickey Smith kissing her on the cheek (which, ew), even one of Martha with the Torchwood team in Cardiff. On Martha's desk, in a place of honoUr, the TARDIS key was placed in a shadowbox, still in its chain. The Doctor felt his hearts constrict at the sight of it. He'd always felt that Martha was the strongest of companions, choosing to leave like she did. At first he'd been angry at her, walking away because of a silly thing like love...but now...he realised that it had been much harder for her to leave him behind, knowing how much he needed someone. 

Martha noticed his shoulders were slumped, his body cast in shadow as he looked out into the beautiful view. He had put himself in a mood. God, Martha did not miss the mood swings. 

"I never apologized, have I?" The Doctor asked, turning to her, his eyes dark. "For everything."

That one word said more than either of them could have said. But Martha, charity Martha as Donna had first called her, only smiled. 

"I did it all because I believe in you, Doctor," she said, the first time he saw her smile waver, the steel exterior of her easy smile crack. Martha was always the soldiering on type. "It didn't matter how much it...it hurt. You are worth it."

The Doctor looked down at his shoes, for once hit by a wave of humility. "John Smith," he said, apropos to nothing. Only Martha would know which John he was talking about. "He's still me, isn't he? Somewhere inside...I am him, even a little bit?"

Somehow Martha knew what he was trying to ask her. In 1913, John Smith was a man in love, a man who could smile and just let himself fall freely, headfirst over a woman who just...dazzled him. On that front, Joan Redfern had been right. John was a braver man than the Doctor. He had given his heart so freely, willing to die of it meant saving the ones he loved. 

Now that Donna was there, the Doctor wanted to know if he could be that man for her. 

"No," Martha said, shaking her head. "Definitely not. I like you Doctor, but as a human...you were pretty rubbish. I actually feel a bit bad for Rose, left with the human you. Hopefully he'll have a bit more Donna in him," she joked, and although she didn't miss the flicker of guilt and pain in his eyes, Martha learned not to think anything more of it. One joke wasn't going to collapse their entire friendship. Because that was what it was, wasn't it? Martha Jones, the Doctor's doctor. Nothing more. "But you are much more than John Smith. You would burn stars, cross galaxies and save worlds for the people you love. Nobody else could, which is why the people you love aren't afraid to stand up for you." Martha put aside her teacup. She could hear the TARDIS materialising in the office anteroom, and she knew her time was up. Standing up, she kissed the Doctor's cheek as the TARDIS door wordlessly swung open, with Donna frowning deeply on the other side.

"Go on get her, tiger," Martha joked, punching the Doctor's arm playfully as she nudged her head towards the blue box. "Give me a proper visit next time, would you? Maybe June 12, around ten-ish? I'll need your RSVP for my wedding."

This time, the Doctor actually smiled at her, beaming. There she was. All this time, and Martha was still Martha, fixing him up without asking for anything in return.

"Doctor Martha Smith Jones," he said, testing the name on his tongue (because of course she was going to keep her name). "Sounds about right."

Then, with one last smile and a quick hug from Donna, the TARDIS dematerialised. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, another chapter. With a reference to 3x02, the Shakespeare Code. That episode is never referenced enough! Also Journey's End. Also very slight reference to my other story, The Nights Are the Longest.

She wonders if any of the other living companions ever have this odd quirk of hers. Martha has noticed that her eyes tended to flicker towards the colour blue. Wherever she went, wether it was a tarp in the wind, a wall she was passing by, her eyes went to the blue that passed by her eyes. Obviously it couldn’t have been the TARDIS, but she just knew that it was why she kept looking. Martha Jones was happy on Earth, happy protecting it and defending it. But she still looked. Mickey said he understood, sometimes pointed out blue things to her like it was a game, but Martha knew it was different. He didn’t have the same skip in her heart when she saw a flash of blue. While he understood, he didn’t _quite_ understand. 

So when she saw the TARDIS sitting in the middle of a playground, Martha couldn’t help the skip in her heart as she approached the big blue box. It looked like it had been there for quite some time, but everyone around her just seemed not to see it. There were kids wanting approach the box, but their parents pulled them aside before they could come close. Martha however, knew better.  

“Doctor?” She asked, knocking gently on the door. She still had her key, of course, but it was currently in a frame on her desk. She didn’t think she’d have to use it again. “Donna? Are you there?”

They were probably larking out and about, doing something ridiculous or romantic. Martha had been privy to the information that the Doctor and Donna were giving being a couple a go, and much to her surprise, she wasn’t jealous at all. Why should she be? 

“Martha, is that you?” she heard Donna’s voice waft clearly from behind the door. “Come in!” 

She stepped into the TARDIS, taking a deep breath. There was something about the ship that always made her feel welcome. Martha supposed that was one of the reasons why she stayed for as long as she did. She thought this was the Doctor welcoming her in, letting her into his life.  

Best not think of the past. 

“What are you doing?” Martha couldn’t help but chuckle as she saw Donna sitting on the grated floor of the TARDIS, an old treasure chest open in front of her and the grating lifted to reveal the storage spaces underneath the console. There were a lot of things scattered around as well, books, clothing, even a squash ball and racket. Donna looked up from her piles of things, looking slightly exasperated. She was holding something round, green and glowing in her hands. 

“What the hell is this supposed to be?” Donna asked, rattling the crystal ball slightly as Martha winced slightly, knowing exactly what was inside. She could swear she heard cackling. 

“It’s…it’s a crystal ball containing the Carrionites,” Martha said hesitantly, coming forward to sit next to her on the floor. She made a motion to reach for the ball, easing it from Donna’s fingers. “Um. Witches. We met them when we visited Shakespeare in the 1500s. I wouldn’t shake it about if I were you.”

“Are you telling me there’s aliens on the TARDIS?” Donna asked, letting Martha take the ball. When Martha gave her a knowing look, she rolled her eyes. “Oh you know what I mean.”

The younger girl actually chuckled, putting the ball carefully back into the box a bit too fondly. That was her first proper trip on the TARDIS, and it was still one of her favourites. Meeting Shakespeare, running away from Queen Elizabeth…no need to remember the Doctor insisting she was just a ‘one trip’ girl, or that he’d practically howled at the moon for Rose when Martha didn’t ask the right questions. Martha wondered briefly if Donna had to deal with that, ever. She studied Donna, seeing a line of frustration on her lips, her brows furrowed. 

“Where’s the Doctor?” She asked casually, looking around. Usually the Time Lord would be up in the console room in seconds when someone came on board. Ever the welcoming host, he’d proclaimed to be. 

“Oh out there somewhere,” Donna said, waving a hand around. “I told him to get lost, and he’s probably halfway to saving civilisation by now.”

“Are you two having another domestic?” Martha found herself asking suddenly, sighing. This was why she always had a notion that best friends who seemed to do nothing but argue and yell at each other couldn’t do well together, just like her cousin Adeloa and her boyfriend Steve. Always fighting, those two were. Could never get anything done. 

“Not my fault he was being bloody stupid,” Donna muttered, rolling her eyes, as she began to stuff everything back into he chest in an angry, temperamental way. “We were having a perfectly nice time at a proper carnival, you know, like America in the twenties? The Doctor likes to make fun of psychics, right, so we just had to go in and see this creepy old woman called Mystic Meg."

“Seriously?” Martha asked, unable to help the giggle that escaped her throat.

“Seriously. You should have seen him when we met that bloke who found King Tut. He laughed so hard I was afraid he would regenerate!” She said, although she was rolling her eyes more than she found it funny. “Anyway, there we were in Mystic Meg’s tent, and then she just goes into this…trace kind of thing and said something like… _but your heart grows cold. The north wind blows and carries down the distant Rose.”_  

Martha instinctively turned towards the globe, glaring angrily at the three witches stuck inside. How on earth did they do that? Donna caught the look and surmised that someone was going to have to tell her what the hell happened with these witches in the crystal ball before she broke someone’s skinny torso in half. 

“What did he say?” Martha asked, turning back to Donna, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. 

“Nothing, he just got all broody and stormed out, back into the TARDIS. Naturally I started yelling and driving until he got mad and started yelling too, so he landed and told me to look into the box then he left.” Donna looked completely miserable, but still had that annoyed face veiled over it. 

“Is it wrong to really really hate someone who is never going to come back?” She sighed, leaning her head against the side of the console. 

“Like the ghost of Christmas past, isn’t she?” Martha asked, smiling a little. 

“I know I shouldn’t hate her, I mean…she blew holes into universe trying to get to the Doctor for god’s sake,” Donna said, shaking her head. “But…I kind of do.”

“Because she blew holes into the universe to get to the Doctor?” Martha asked, making Donna chuckle too.  

“That, and she took half of him and me with her,” she sighed, knowing she sounded just a little bit ridiculous. She knew she didn’t have to be jealous of a woman in a parallel universe, but if the Doctor was going to be so bloody sensitive about it… 

“Rose bloody Tyler gets the Doctor, the domestic life, and her own bleeding parallel world,” Donna continued. “And what do I get? Two bloody miscarriages and a Doctor who can barely even look at me, let alone…” she inhaled sharply, as if shocked at the tears that sprung into her eyes. 

 Martha had been halfway to putting her hand on Donna’s shoulder when she’d made that little revelation, and she found her hand flax backward in surprise. She didn’t even know that they were… _oh Donna_. 

“I’m so sorry,” Martha said, rubbing her friend’s back as Donna continued to cry. She knew what this was really about. She’d seen enough of her friends, patients go through the same thing when they were having fertility problems. Donna needed the Doctor, and Martha could guess he probably needed her too. But for now, all she had was Doctor Martha Jones. 

“Yeah,” Donna said, in between tears. “Me too.”

She knew she didn’t have to say it, but Donna had nothing to worry about. The reason why the Doctor left Rose in that parallel world was because that was where she had to be. He didn’t need her anymore, and he knew that. He had chosen brilliant, beautiful Donna Noble to be with him in the TARDIS. No competition there. Though their meetings had been brief, Martha always had a sense that Donna was used to taking care of other people, as she did the Doctor. She just needed someone to do the same for her. 

Martha had always secretly been on Team Donna, but she never told Mickey that. 

“I know this isn’t going to fix anything,” she said gently. “But what about a cup of tea? We’re parked right by the Hummingbird Bakery. My treat.”

Donna nodded, closing the top of the chest as she wiped the snot from under her nose in the most undignified fashion. Martha wrapped her arms around her friend in a hug. 

“What about the Doctor?” Donna asked vaguely, looking behind her as they walked away from the TARDIS. 

“Oh I plan to give him an earful later, trust me,” Martha said, putting her pen back in her purse before slapping the note on the phone box. Then she rejoined Donna and they walked to the cafe together.  

* * *

 

An hour later, the Doctor approached the TARDIS with his hands in his pockets and his brows furrowed. He was just about to step inside when he noticed the note on the door. 

‘Took Donna out for tea. Don’t worry Doctor, I’ll take care of her for you for now. Martha.’

 


	3. Chapter 3

Martha carefully studied her reflection in the mirror. It was a lovely day out—sunshine for the first time in weeks, everything in its place. Even the little white flowers (she had no idea what they were properly called) her Mum worried they wouldn’t be able to get in time arrived. The only major snag was Martha’s dress.  

It didn’t look right on her, she thought. It fit her perfectly, but it seemed…off. Not like her at all. Especially someone who was used to running for her life, taking orders, fighting for her own skin. She felt like she should be running and hiding and fighting. Her skin tingled and the hairs and on the back of her head prickled. 

She was a doctor, and it was common for her to identify symptoms and make diagnoses. Looking at herself, in a room in a church with a wedding dress on, in her expert opinion—getting married was the last thing Martha wanted at the moment. 

Her instincts kicked in. The door. She needed the door. Once she got out, she would drive all the way to Cardiff and hide inside Torchwood for the rest of her life. Solid plan. Or she could go to China, Japan, Russia and see it all for once. Without drones and rockets and the constant threat of death. She just wanted to travel again. 

If that included time and space, then it would be good too. She could do it. She could call and he could come crashing through that door right now. 

Or at least Donna would make him.  

“Martha?” Her mother asked, peeking through the door without knocking. Francine Jones had done everything she could to stay exactly the same since That Year They Never Mention. She still disapproved of everything Martha did, and still relied on her so much. Who was she going to rely on once Martha got married? Or died (whichever was worse)? 

“Mhm?” She asked, jumping slightly and trying not to look guilty.  

“Oh look, your skirt's a mess,” She said, marching forward in that decisive way of hers and pulling the frothy edges of tulle and whatever down the side. “Perfect.” 

“Mum,” Martha said, trying to swallow down the urge to tell her mother her plans. “Did you need something?” 

“Just to tell you that we’re all ready when you are, darling,” she said, hugging her daughter suddenly. “We’re all so pleased for you and Mickey. Your dad will be waiting out the door.”

Which was why Martha was standing on top of a table, half her body already through the open window when the TARDIS landed.  

“—I’m telling you, Donna, as long as it’s Versailles, or anywhere in France, really, we CAN’T GO.”

“Alright, cool your heels, boy-o, I just asked. You were the one who asked me where I wanted to go.” Donna snapped, stepping out of the TARDIS. Martha froze. Donna saw her. The Doctor followed behind her, bumping slightly into Donna’s back as she looked at Martha’s odd position. 

“Martha!” The Doctor exclaimed, like there was nothing strange about seeing her trying to escape through a window in a wedding dress. “Martha Jones! Lovely to see you! Sorry, TARDIS is on auto-park, we have no idea where we are.”

“Uhmmmm….Hi, Doctor, Donna. OH!” Martha exclaimed, scrambling down from the window, and missing a step, sending her tumbling down the side. Luckily the Doctor made for a very good pillow.  

“OOF,” the Doctor said, as Donna helped them both stand while laughing hysterically. Martha stood up quickly and strode for the TARDIS as the Donna helped the Doctor stand. 

“Do you think Martha seems a little…odd?” He asked Donna, brushing dust from his trousers and regaining his balance, much like a baby horse did when they were first born. 

“Oh my god, you are dim,” Donna sighed, pushing past him. “Ladies and aliens, the father of my child.”

“You’re pregnant?” Martha asked turning from where she was trying to open the TARDIS doors. Donna smiled. It was a wonderful difference from the last time Martha saw her, sitting in the TARDIS and 

“Yep! Sixteen weeks,” She confirmed. Martha gasped, and suddenly squealed enthusiastically as they hugged and starting to speak rapidly in tones in frequencies that the Doctor wouldn’t understand. 

“Okay okay, let’s settle down,” he said, coming in between them. “So, what’s happening with you, Martha? Why are you dressed like that?”

Donna sighed, rubbing the top of her just swelling stomach. Nowadays she became more patient with him, but only for about an hour each day. "Remember the first time we met, and you asked me that exact same question?”

“Yeah, and you said you were going ten pin bowling, which to be frank, didn’t really sound all that believable.”

“Doctor. She’s. getting. MARRIED!” Donna yelled loudly and slowly. She had a way of doing it so that the words slowly came to crescendo. More impact that way. “Not that I remember seeing an invitation, mind you,” Donna turned to Martha, smiling. 

“I did try to call,” Martha explained, dropping her hands and leaning against the TARDIS. “But things got in the way.” 

“Things, what things?” The Doctor asked.

“Things I’ve taken care of,” she said. “Not to worry, Doctor Dad.”  She smiled at her little joke as the Doctor studied her carefully. She didn’t miss that frown on his face. She was pretty sure that she had the same one just a few moments ago. 

She also didn’t miss the look Donna and the Doctor threw each other. There was another secret between them that she would probably never know. Martha ignored the stab of pain over that. 

“Aw, but Martha Jones, congratulations!” The Doctor said, and the tension in the air evaporated as he pulled her in to a big hug. Donna shook her head and walked over behind him. “It’s Mickey right? You married Mickey, right? Not too tall, not too hairy? Last time I was at a wedding, it was Donna’s and that didn’t really end well, what with the Racnoss and all. But does it count as a wedding if you didn’t get married, Donna?”

Martha had no idea what the Doctor was talking about. She quickly realized that she had no idea how they met. 

“She hasn’t yet either,” Donna pointed out the missing wedding ring on her finger. “Plus she was trying to get out the window. Pulling a runaway bride, missy?”

Martha felt like a guilty teenager. “Maybe,” she said.  

“Nervous?” Donna asked, doing that rubbing thing again. Something inside the Doctor twisted at that. Although he wasn’t too sure if it was a good or bad twist yet. What had Donna called this? Dad shock? Yeah, that sounded right.  

“Terrified,” Martha confirmed. “Like it’s the last thing I want to do.”

“Is it?” The Doctor asked, his interest piqued. “Well, at least we aren’t sure he isn’t working for a Queen hell bent on taking over the planet.”

“Can we focus, thanks?” Donna asked, pulling up a chair. “Martha, why don’t you want to get married?”

“Well,” Martha said slowly, rising off of the TARDIS door. “I just don’t see the point, do I? Not when I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, when I go back to work, or when something happens.”

She started pacing. 

“I mean, it’s mad isn’t it? We just plough on through, facing aliens, saving Earth, putting it first and then suddenly—you get married! I mean, it doesn’t make sense does it? We don’t get happy endings, people like us. Something always goes wrong. Someone gets hurt. ”

Martha sighed and clamped down her tears. She didn’t cry. She did NOT cry. Not when she roamed the Earth by herself, not when she saw Tom being shot by the Master’s cronies, not when her heart broke seeing her family hurt, not when she saw the Doctor aged beyond recognition, helpless. 

Maybe she deserved at least one proper cry. She sighed instead. 

“Martha,” Donna said sternly. 

“You see what I mean, though, right?” Martha asked. “What difference does a silly ceremony make? It just makes the risks higher. It makes me more vulnerable, and him…Mickey is…he’s so calm about it all. I don’t…I don’t need another reason to be scared of what’s out there. And my dress is horrible. It’s got a little rip now because I tried to climb out the bloody window!”

“Donna, need a saltine? For the morning sickness? Well, you say morning sickness but always lasts the entire day. Silly term for a thing that isn't quite accurate. Oh wait, nevermind, I’ve run out, I’ll just…” The Doctor said right away very quickly before he marched right past Martha and into the TARDIS. 

Donna wanted to roll her eyes at him. Typical of him to leave when emotions were involved. She looked at Martha, who seemed more than a little hurt that the Doctor just seemed to ignore her. She didn’t know though, did she? Martha had hit everything right on the nose. She and the Doctor had been arguing about it all the time now. The risks. Their fears, every little worry magnified tenfold with each week that Donna’s pregnancy progressed. She had her own worries too. 

But this was not about her. Not this time. 

“Aw Martha,” Donna said, standing up and wrapping her friend in a hug. “Did you know I asked Lance to marry me? I bugged him and bugged him until I finally wore him down. Well, I guess serving an evil giant spider had a bit of something to do with it but, anyway. Then before him I asked two other men as well. Then there was Shaun, who was the first to say yes right away. That’s about…four guys I’ve asked to marry? Yeah, four. Blimey. 

“Uhm…n-no, I didn’t know that,” Martha said awkwardly. God she had to spill her emotions to the most emotionally constipated people she knew. 

“Yeah. Everyone thought I was desperate. A sad old spinster making do,” she said, as they broke apart, rubbing her stomach fondly. Martha thought pregnancy looked good on her. Although she did look a little pale. Her morning sickness must just be starting to fade. “And maybe I was, a little bit.” 

Martha would have loved to go down this psychological rabbit hole with Donna, really. But she was in her wedding dress, everyone (ie UNIT and Torchwood) was waiting outside, Jack Harkness had a giant gun and she was pretty sure her Dad was about to come bursting through the door. 

“Point is,” Donna finally said. “I asked them all to marry me because I wanted…someone. I just wanted someone to stand in front of the world and tell them that 'yeah, she’s my person. That nothing special, insignificant little temp—“

“Donna—“

“—matters more to me than anyone else in all of time and space,” she said, smiling warmly at Martha. “And whatever happens, I will be there for her. To stop her, challenge her, make her happy. Risk will always be there. Danger too. But as long as I have her…the world makes sense. I have another reason to keep fighting.”

Martha couldn’t help but feel a little bit choked up. Donna was already tearing up too. Bloody hormones. There was a look in her face that told Martha that she was saying these things just as much for someone else as she was saying it for Martha. Like she’d said all of this before. But Donna shook her head, and the feeling was gone. 

"And you’re a doctor, so no wonder ol’ Mickey boy can’t wait to marry you!” Donna laughed. "He’d probably shout it out to the rooftops naked if he could!” 

Martha finally laughed. God, it felt much better than crying. 

“There’s that smile,” Donna said, brushing a tear from her cheek carefully so her makeup didn’t run. Surprisingly enough, the makeup didn’t smudge at all. Which, quite frankly, given that Martha had tried to climb out of a window and cried a little, was astonishing. “Wow, your makeup is seriously waterproof! Can I pick it up while we’re here?”

Martha laughed again, and hugged Donna. 

“Thank you,” She whispered to her friend. “I’ll see you and the Doctor at the reception, yeah?”

“I would never miss a party,” Donna said, squeezing Martha one last time. “Now what are we going to do about that dress?” 

Suddenly the doors of the TARDIS burst open, and out came the Doctor, holding possibly the most exquisite dress Martha had ever seen. It was slim cut and long as anything. It scooped low in the back but still looked demure in front. It was made of the oddest material…did it shimmer? It looked like it shimmered. Something told Martha that it was going to fit her perfectly. 

“Knew I had this kept somewhere,” the Doctor said proudly. “It’s the ceremonial gown of the cardinals in the seventh moon of Poosh. Well, the lower part anyway. The upper part is...well you don't want to see the upper part. Goddesses, they are. Had the most amazing gowns. It glows in the moonlight. You should try it out later!”

“And you just happened to have one in the TARDIS?” Donna asked, raising her eyebrow at the Doctor. 

“Well, I might have had to impersonate one of them to get into their citadel,” the Doctor said very quickly. “Anyway, try it on, see if it suits! Can’t have Doctor Martha Jones getting married in a dress with a hole in it, can we?” 

Donna helped Martha into the dress and the effect was instant. She glowed like a star, and the smile on her face was bigger than any time the Doctor had seen it. He felt a sense of obligation to her (let’s face it, Martha was way too good for Mickey, at least he thought so), and the Doctor couldn’t help but squeeze Donna’s hand as she exclaimed over Martha. Donna would know what to say.  

“You look fantastic!” She exclaimed. “Like a gorgeous bride. I should know,” Donna giggled, squeezing the Doctor’s hand back before hugging Martha again. The Doctor found himself wrapping his arms around them both. They had no idea how happy it made him, seeing them like this. These were the kind of moments that he lived for. The ones he would always keep. 

Even when they were both gone. 

“Now let’s get you married, Martha Jones!” The Doctor exclaimed, extending an arm towards her. 

“Are you giving me away now?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“In a manner of speaking,” He said with a cheeky grin as Donna rolled her eyes and opened the door for them. Before they parted, the Doctor whispered something into Martha’s ear. Donna only caught him calling her Mrs. Smith. Martha’s face lit up into the brightest smile ever, and she gave the Doctor one last hug before coming through to the room where her dad was waiting. 

The Doctor stood by the door, watching Martha walk up the aisle. Donna saw him give someone a nod (of warning?) before she came and joined him from their special spot behind the door. She leaned against him, and he wrapped an arm around her waist and she did the same to him. He hitched his hand higher and rubbed her belly. An understanding came between them then and there. Surprisingly, the didn't really use a lot of words. 

“What did you say to her?” Donna asked.  

“I told her to make sure you got the bouquet later,” he said with a smile. “Makes you the next one to get married, right?”

Donna sighed and tried to pretend like what he said didn’t mean absolutely everything to her. She did snuggle closer to him though. He noticed. 

“I still expect a proper proposal,” she said. “Something with snow. Or flowers. And I want it to be after the baby’s born. So I know you don’t want to do it just because you knocked me up.”

“You make it sound like it wasn’t a two way deal!” The Doctor exclaimed, following Donna after she wriggled out of his arms and walked back to the TARDIS. If they were attending the reception, she was going to make sure she looked good. 

“Oh, and by the way, impersonating a goddess?” Donna asked, looking back at him. “Don’t think I believe that for one second. You have a lot of things to explain before this baby is born.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and softened. He watched Donna’s hands caress her belly. It was just starting to show. His mind filled with his child’s quiet satisfaction, and it gave him peace. She gave him peace too. He smiled. “You know, we really should start coming up with names for her…or him.”

“One major crises after another please, thanks!” She called after him, already halfway to the hallways. "Now, do you have a maternity dress stocked in that closet of yours? I saw Captain Jack out there and I’d like to get him to dance with me. I bet he’s a brilliant dancer. Unlike some skinny Spacedads."

“Awww, Donna!” 

“Aww, Doctor.”

 

THE END

 


End file.
